Time for a change.

We've been slack posting blogs lately, I know, but in my defence I do actually have them written and stored on my computer. It's proving quite difficult posting the pictures, they won't publish for some reason, so I've decided to move across to Tumblr and try my luck there. I've just finished a blog 'Burnout' which I'm posting to tumblr now  www.makingbucketsoflemonade.tumblr.com  so hopefully it'll work. Otherwise I'll just have to resort to posts without pictures. See you over the other side.
J&G xo

I think we're in Florence?

We still haven't told you about arriving in Switzerland and the ensuing dramas before we arrived in Venice, nor the great time we had while we were there. Instead I'm going to skip ahead to today when we left Venice and arrived in Florence. 

Despite all our good intentions of spending today exploring, I think we managed only two hours daylight, maximum.  I'm running out of steam.

Georgia's alarm went off at 0400. That gave us an hour to get up, showered, packed and down to reception to check out and find a taxi. Most mornings haven't seen us get up before about 1000, so six hours earlier was a real stretch, but we did it and made it in plenty of time for the 0537 departure to Florence by train.   We slept most of the way and arrived in what seemed like 30 minutes but in reality it was two hours. It's dark here until 0830 so by the time we'd had breakfast at the hotel and put our heads down for '10 minutes', it was midday. There went my good intentions of making an early start.

Feeling guilty about being in such a beautiful city and still lazing around in bed, we dragged ourselves out into the wet, cold day and walked the few blocks to the Duomo before finding somewhere to eat. Georgie had done a bit of research earlier and planned on spending some time at the Leonardo da Vinci Museum.    It was really informative and interactive for kids with hands-on models of quite a lot of his designs. The best bit was a film about his life, in which he was eventually usurped by Michelangelo..... plus we got to sit down again while we watched that for an hour! (See the 2 'moaners' below)

It was 1630 by the time we finished there. My 'virus' has started to come back with renewed vigour so a quick walk home and it was back into bed for me for a few hours.  See? Only two hours of daylight today between 1230 and 1430.

I'd read a review on the hotel website that the restaurant next door was pretty good so dinner at 7.30 pm did not disappoint. If you ever come to Florence, do yourself a favour ad go to www.pizzabarbano.it. Such simple food, but omg, the flavour! (see pic below)

Well that's it. Not much to report because the days seem to be flying by and we're getting tired. I'd like to say we'll have more of a chance to blog when we get to Rome, but given its only for a week, maybe not. Georgie and I were talking at dinner tonight about how fast our trip is going so we're thinking of simplifying life and just staying in Paris for 3-4 weeks instead of only 2, that way we won't be as rushed. Now, if only we knew where to spend the week between the cruise finishing in Rome and our move to Paris.
Write to us if anyone has any good suggestions. Does anyone know what Corsica is like?

For our last two days in Florence we've decided to do a couple of organised day trips since we're so tired; I thought it'd be a good idea to leave the planning to someone else for a change. Tomorrow (14th) we're going on a 12 hour trip to Pisa, San Gimigano and Siena including free wine tasting and lunch somewhere in the Tuscan countryside. Georgia is always asking me questions, so it'll be a relief to have a guide on hand. On Tuesday we're going on a half day Florence city tour which takes all the worry out of organising tickets and transport to see what Michelangelo got up to...and once again, the tour guide will probably get an earful from Georgia.

That's all for now. I'll let you know if the tour guide survived.

PS. Darn post wouldn't publish with the photos attached, maybe they're too large. I'll put them up in a day or so when I've worked it out. In the meantime, here's a stand-in for Leonardo's Mona Lisa.

Nazaries Palace, The Alhambra and the Generallife

Today we got even more cultcha when we saw a humongous palace, a massive castle and a beautiful, scenic garden.

Once again we got a audio tour to show us the majestic palace in which decades of history was held. Mum and I were surprised to see that the tiles in the palace were the same colour and the ones in the Arabian baths at our hotel. In mostly every room there was Arabic writing carved into the walls, each letter was chiseled into the wall about a thousand years ago. Water features could be found all around the general life section which were for decoration, drinking and bathing. The Alhambra was also massive, there were many lookouts and hidy holes, one of which I found that went above old houses that people used to live in and the other one that led up to a big lookout was really steep and when I say steep I mean steep it had four floors on which people used to live and it was also narrow. Lastly we went and saw Charles the 5th palace which had been transformed into a museum.

Trains metro and buses

Getting around Bangkok is taxis and walking, getting around Olvera is just walking but getting around Madrid is another story. Mum and I discovered lots of ways to get around Madrid.

After four days of practice we thought we were doing amazingly well and getting around just as well as the locals.The most convenient was probably the bus which left every 5 minutes from the station just across the road. We only used the buses to get into the centre to catch our tourist bus. Another really helpful 24hour service was the metro which we only used twice but the station was across the road again which came in handy when we had to use it at 8o'clock in the morning which by the way it is still dark. The train station was a 5 minute walk down the road but we only used it once and didn't really like it. The taxi depot was next door but we only caught them once because we were absolutely astounded at the price difference between the taxi and all the other types of transport. The last method we used was walking, unfortunately it doesn't have a station or depot we just used it to walk to the stations or depots.

The Royal Palace

There are no big monuments in Birkdale the biggest would probably be Birkdale Fair the shopping centre.

My eyes popped out of my head when I saw the size of the palace, mum was amazed to when she saw that the size of the courtyard was bigger that the land that we built our house on. With 18 rooms opened up for exhibition and and about 100 that weren't it is definitely a home fit for a king. The palace had frescos on every roof and stairs that you could glide down, there were also paintings in every room which will make it a thing that I will definitely remember on this holiday. The funniest and strangest room would probably be the one that looked like it came straight from a Chinese temple. To help us understand everything we got another audio tour which told us about each room. The biggest and most spectacular room would be the dining room which seated 148 guests, the room was divided into four parts which were originally separate but were opened up, each section had a fresco which was each detailed to the every edge.

Prado Museum

Georgia here,

I had written a long blog ages ago but mum has already mentioned all that so I am just go start write another one.

Oh, the adventures we have been having. We went to Madrid on the 2nd and were meant to come back on the 6th. I had no clue that you could fit so much into 4 days, the train ride went forever and after four and a half hours of playing cards we finally arrived in Madrid. The next day we hopped on a tourist bus and went and saw the Prado Museum which had fabulous paintings from the 13 and 14 hundreds. We got an audio tour which told us all about each painting, every single painting had so much detail. My favourite painting was the family portrait, the dresses all looked like they were actually crinkled as well as they all looked so life like, my favourite part of the painting was the man in the shadows who happened to be the painter. The statues of all the painters stood out the front and as tourists cramped around it we finally got our picture taken with them.

There's something about an Arabian bath.

We're getting really lazy and last Wednesday proves it. All we had planned for that day was to get up, have breakfast in the hotel, spend a couple of hours in the Arabian baths beneath the hotel then make our way to the train station for the train ride to Madrid that evening. So basically, our plan was to eat and laze around all day. I'm pleased to report everything went as planned.

The hotel in which we stayed has an Arabian bath underneath so we spent a thoroughly enjoyable two hours floating in the various pools, one of which had a very hard stream of water pelting down in a hot, hot spa and the force of the water was as good (if not better) as a massage. The other pools were different temperatures, one ice cool, another blood warm, which we figured was like being back in the womb; the water had just enough movement to float us gently around.  There was also a steam room with flowing water from a fountain; then an ice room to use after the extra hot bath. We'd rub ice all over our skin (I also ate a fair few mouthfuls) then back to the cold pool which was not so cold after the ice bath.   And around and around we went like that for two hours. It was pure heaven.

Next time I build a house (yeah, pick up that brick and get ready to hit me over the head, will you?) I want to excavate and put a whole basement of those baths in, just for me. I'd add in a fully stocked fridge of champers and could easily disappear for a week at a time.

Anyway, we're back from Madrid now and since we enjoyed it so much last week we're going again tomorrow. Never mind the ancient palace and grounds we're seeing in the morning, it's the arab bath that is to be the highlight of the day. Priorities of an 11 year old, you know?

There is also a pic of the snowy Sierra Nevadas behind Granada's train Station. I'm tossing up whether to drive there on Wednesday so Georgia can play in the snow for an hour or so. We'll see....have to also get to Malaga by mid-afternoon that day.

We got us some cultcha

Finally, I feel like we're really in Europe. While cities in Andalucia are gorgeous, they just don't cut the mustard compared to Madrid.
We arrived on a train late at night and during the ride to the hotel, we were blown away by the huge fountains in full bloom, plumes of water lit by various colours, the tall tall buildings and the way the ancient blended with the new in what is a bustling metropolis, even at midnight.

While our hotel was out of central Madrid it was close to the Australian Embassy, our first port of call the next morning. It was also adjacent to a bus, train and metro station so we had no trouble navigating around the place for the four days we were there. After the signing and posting of my documents was taken care of at the embassy, it was off to explore and that's when we finally got us some cultcha. BTW, it cost $16 every time the Aussie diplomat witnessed my signature. I told him I thought that was a bit rich - what about a discount since I work for the federal govt too? Ummm.....no.

The Prado museum was spectacular with displays by Goya, Van Dyck, and Ruben, among others. The Royal Palace too was breathtaking and once again we compared the paintings from the Prado with those hung and painted in the palace.  Unfortunately no cameras were allowed in either of those places so you'll have to google them or take my word for it.

The biggest thrill for Georgia was a visit to the Ritz hotel for an afternoon tea of hot chocolate and churros. The hot chocolate was as sumptuous as the decor and grand piano in the lounge (and bathroom, Georgie informs me) and we could have stayed draped across their luxurious sofas all afternoon while pretending to be 'ladies'.  Our fantasy played out for an hour or so then we reluctantly slunk away like the imposters we were, back to our lesser hotel opposite the metro, our bellies full of too many churros dipped in too-rich chocolate.

It was nice while it lasted.

During the last two days in Madrid, the travelling caught up with us and we both hit a bit of a brick wall, me with a chest infection I've been trying to fight, and Georgia with the tummy pains she gets when she needs sleep and food.
So we slowed right down and didn't get out of bed on the last two days until lunchtime. That felt good.
Today we made our way back to Granada and are taking it easy again, just lazing around the hotel in preparation for our last couple of days in Spain.

It's hard to believe we've been in Spain for a month; On Wednesday we hand in our trusty rent-a-car and fly to Zurich.
Six weeks gone already, only 14 left.  While it startles me that the time has gone so fast, I know someone that would have jumped on a plane tonight if she had the chance. We had another little bout of homesickness, but thanks to Skype, it seems to have eased.

How did we ever manage before internet?

Not all wine and roses

Well, we did our best but unfortunately we'll never understand Spanish village nightlife. New Years Eve came around full of promise and we were looking forward to heading out to a restaurant about 9 pm then seeing the new year in with the 'eating of 12 grapes' at midnight.

On our way back from Zahara we changed our minds and opted for an eat-in seafood dinner about 8pm (which was delicious by the way) then we planned to head out to the town square for drinks afterwards and wait for midnight. Well, the seafood dinner at home was over by 9.30 pm, so off we went into town.........but nothing was open and there was not a soul to be seen!! We'd only just got accustomed to restaurants opening at 9 pm for the evening meal. What the hec.....now this on NYE?!

So back home we trudged and sat in front of the tellie trying to stave off sleep. Midnight finally happened and as we stood shivering on our rooftop patio, we ripped the lids off our tins of grapes and hurriedly swallowed the slippery suckers with each stroke of the midnight church bell. Righto, off to bed...what a boring town, we thought.

Little did we know but everyone only then started emerging from their homes and headed for the bars - or so we were told the next day. I find it hard to believe that people actually go out that late, but what do I know? I come from suburban Birkdale where 10 pm is considered late.

So no, we'll never get used to Spanish nightlife, certainly not in a small white village in the countryside. And if we ever want to have any semblance of a nightlife, then a city is where we need to be. At least food is available between 2 pm and 9 pm in the city, unlike Olvera. Really...siesta starts at 2 pm and restaurants shut their doors until dinner at 9.

We're in Granada as I type this, snugly tucked up in a lovely hotel room at 8.30 pm, bellies full from the great crepe restaurant next door, and internet is free - and working.

I pondered whether to save this as a draft because it sounds whiny, but then I thought "nope, travel has its good points as well as its bad. " No use sugar coating it all.

Would we stay in an isolated village in the countryside again? Probably not unless I knew some other people there to hang out with, and not if I was expecting anything more than a sleepy time. 

As Georgie and I were driving towards Granada today we tried to process the last three weeks based in Olvera by listing three things we really enjoyed and three things we didn't.
Not surprisingly, we both listed people we frequently ran into as enjoyable. Georgia really liked her visits to the library because there was a woman there that spoke a little english and really engaged with her, I enjoyed going to the local shops to buy things because there was always interaction of sorts and friendly smiles (or they were just laughing at me trying to speak spanish and/or mime?). Also the village church on xmas eve (even though I'm totally not religious) because families gathered there and the community spirit of xmas was real. Gathering in this 900 year old church was part of their daily life, and as special as the building and its artifacts seemed to me, this was just 'life' to them.

Tandem biking on the Via Verde was also fun, but one of the biggest highlights was a flamenco concert at the local cultural centre. At only $1,50 a ticket, it started at 9pm (yep, an early start for Olvera) and was full of families all out for a good time While I didn't understand what they were singing about, I loved the rhythm and audience participation which was encouraged. The emotion and fun of the concert was infectious and it was great to see both adults and kids taking part in it. Hopefully the short videos below gives you an idea. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rA4dMXUZ02E&feature=youtube_gdata_player     and     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Rx-pswjOv8&feature=youtube_gdata_player  

Things not so enjoyable to us were the steep, steep hills of the town; lack of town 'energy', especially at night,.....and siesta.
People that live out their lives in Olvera no doubt have a great love for the place, evidenced by the gathering of groups of old men each morning on park benches in the sun, just sitting watching the world go by; or the houseproud women in the cleaning aprons busily cleaning the street in front of their homes and yelling at each other from their balconies as they do the housework.

Food was ridiculously cheap in Olvera, so I can understand why they don't feel the need to work long hours. Georgie and I were feeling really pleased with ourselves surviving on about $20 a day for restaurant food for most of the time there, that is until we discovered the large "mercadona" supermarket on the edge of town three days before we left. Twenty dollars would have fed us for the entire week! And not just on basics, we're talking proscuitto, prawns and smoked salmon type of food!  And you were right Donna, wine was about $1.50 a bottle, but when we found mercadona, I couldn't believe a bottle of vodka was only $5!!!
So yeah, I guess food was another 'good' thing we enjoyed about our time there.

That wraps up our time the Andalucian countryside. It's Granada and Madrid for the next week before flying to Zurich on the 9th. Then we're doing short bursts in Milan, Venice and Florence before staying in Rome for a week prior to the cruise.

No pics of NYE unfortunately. Only one of a cute putty cat that helped Georgie drink her milkshake for dinner tonight, and one of  Georgie watching some show on the internet as I type this.

Enjoy the rest of the holidays if you don't have to go back to work tomorrow.

Love J&G xo

Adios Olvera

Our time in Olvera is coming to an end a week early. We were always going to finish up our month in Spain by visiting Granada a few days before flying out of Malaga, but because I now have to visit the Australian Embassy for some notary things, we're leaving 8 days early and will have a look around Madrid as well. Then back to Granada for a quick visit before saying "Adios, Spain".
It has been fun and at least we get to finish off 2012 in Olvera and take part in the grape swallowing tradition with each toll of the bell at midnight on NYE. You might be interested to know that we'll be eating our grapes from a can! Yep, who knew grapes came in lots of 12 in a can, they must be made especially for NYE? You can buy fresh grapes but they must be out of season because they look like crap. So tinned grapes it is for us tomorrow night.
At the moment, I'm typing this in Zahara de la Sierra, a small pueblo blanco near Olvera. We went for a drive on Sunday and loved the village so much that we decided to stay for the night and enjoy a bit more of the great atmosphere we found in the main town square and surrounding streets.  This place also has the added attraction of a massive lake which I'm sure would be well used in the summer, but for us now, makes a beautiful view out of our hotel window.
We'll be back in Olvera for a tidy up before NYE tomorrow, then we hit the road again on new years day. Apparently it's only a short drive to Granada so we'll probably make it by lunch. We have plans to visit the Alhambra Palace, etc the next day before catching the train to Madrid that night. It's only four and a half hours apparently, thanks to the new bullet trains.
Will post some new years eve pics soon, but in the meantime, here are some from Zahara de la Sierra.
Happy new year everyone.

I love Seville

Seville was calling us for a visit so just before xmas we headed west and made it there by simply following our noses. That, and the very few signs that the Spanish deem sufficient to find a new town or city.

Seville is really charming. The city centre is pedestrianised and apart from a slow moving tram and a few horses and carriages,  only people, music, food and entertainment fill the void - and fill it they do. With every turn there's something new (or old) to gaze upon.

Just as in Malaga, Georgie and I toured the city in one of the open top double decker buses to get a feel for the place and then hopped on and off at the places that interested us. Georgia spied a xmas fair in a park the first time around so we weren't allowed to get off the bus until that stop appeared again. Just like the ekka (but a quarter of the price) she relished playing the games, eating caravan food and riding the ferris wheel. Culture, hey? That's why we came to Europe! There's a pic below of her holding a prize; a 1000 piece jigsaw for picking the floating ducks - you know the sort. I think only 986 pieces made it out of the hotel when we left though, the other bits are probably in the hotel vacuum cleaner by now.

Our other modes of transport included a river cruise, horse and carrriage and the gold ol' shanks pony. We got our moneys worth, that's for sure.

Unlike Olvera, Seville doesn't stop for siesta between 2 and 5 pm so we were able to see and do quite a bit - and even managed to fit some xmas shopping in, even though I'd sworn we were going to give xmas a miss this year. The good thing about xmas in Spain is that there isn't a santa in sight, only festive lights lining the street and a happy, holiday atmosphere without the cries of "sale, sale sale - buy buy buy" from every street corner. My only complaint is the fairy floss carts on most street corners, they were really hard to avoid!